Rating: 
Summary: Absurdly and Infinitely Stupid...
Review: ... This recent effort, Barbara Leaming's "Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years" must have been so elusive that even its author couldn't locate it! This book is a prime example of precisely what is wrong with so-called "Modern Biography and History" promising much while delivering NOTHING. Indeed, when I received this book, I was surprised at once by its brevity, given what I thought would be its scope and thouroughness. Ms. Leaming's premise(s), while "interesting" are in the final analysis, completely and utterly of her own mind and making, lacking ANY substantiation for which she should be ashamed and deeply apologetic. Her constant attempts to read Mrs. Onassis' mind and infer this and that at any given period, was particularly laughable, until one realizes that this is yet another "History" being added to the already largely incomplete and bogus study of Mrs. Onassis' life and times.Ms. Leaming merely refers to the sources for her book, such as Mrs. Onassis' Secret Service Agent, Clint Hill and his Testimony before The Warren Commission, not to mention the correspondence between Mrs. Onassis and British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan, which is really where I take great issue with her. Why, Ms. Leaming could you not publish said documents and allow the reader to gain a window into Mrs. Onassis, that you yourself stated was of particular importance... A dismal and insulting book (very similar to all those others, such as: Kiity Kelly's "Jackie Oh!"; C. David Heyman's "A Woman Named Jackie" and Sarah Bradford's "America's Queen") folks, not worth a penny. My suggestion, write a book about Mrs. Onassis, yourself, I'm certain we could ALL do better.
Rating: 
Summary: A Few Errors, But Still Brilliant
Review: Barbara Leaming's brilliance as a biographer is to discern, from painstaking reconstruction of contributory events, the motivations behind her subjects' history-making deeds. However, many reviewers have scolded Leaming for presuming to know what her latest subject, Jacqueline Kennedy, was thinking. Indeed, Leaming is guilty as charged. But if a reviewer asks if Leaming's suppositions as to what Jackie was thinking are the product of research, logic, and common sense, the answer would have to be yes. Her chief theories -- that JFK viewed Jackie as a replacement for his deceased sister Kathleen, and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan as a replacement for his disabled father -- would surely be denied vehemently by each of the principals, but that doesn't make those theories wrong. Although Leaming did not intend "Mrs. Kennedy" as a hatchet job, she ably demonstrates why JFK's sexual exploits really did endanger national security. Her book explodes the myths of Camelot and JFK as Devoted Family Man even more thoroughly than Seymour Hersh's "Dark Side of Camelot." Now the bad news: in at least one instance, flawed research has resulted in Leaming's ascribing motivations that were impossible. She claims (on pages 149-150) that Jackie was seething at Frank Sinatra during a Sept. 21, 1961, White House luncheon because Sinatra had humiliated her the previous weekend while sailing with the Kennedys at Hyannis Port. Unfortunately, Leaming has mixed up her weekends. Sinatra's infamous stint at Hyannis Port occurred after that luncheon, so Jackie, unless amazingly clairvoyant, could not have been angry about it. (See the Washington Star, Sept. 24, 1961, page A-5; many major newspapers reported that same day on Sinatra's Cape Cod cruise with the Kennedys.) There are instances in which Leaming does seem to go too far in her mind-reading. When she asserts that JFK, who sobbed uncontrollably when his infant son Patrick died, was also sobbing for a previously stillborn daughter and for having caused Jackie so much pain, she doesn't give any documentation for knowing so intimately the magnitude of his grief. However, as with her previous books, Leaming is frequently astute in digging up the likely causes of her subjects' behavior, whether saintly or bizarre.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Accounting
Review: Being a Kennedy bibliophile, I was pleasantly surprised to find information in this book that had not been previously disclosed.
The title is somewhat misleading as the author does devote much of the book to Kennedy politics. But, for the first time I got a glimpse of what life was like for Jackie and how much she endured. Reading about Jack Kennedy's sexual adventures makes Clinton's escapades seem trivial. Had Kennedy not been assasinated he would surely have been impeached down the line! A good read for those who find the Kennedys interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Too Speculative
Review: First of all, this book needs a really, really good editor. I can't tell you how often themes are repeated and repeated to the point where it seems like the reader is assumed to be dumb because they aren't expected to remember an important point already made. Secondly, the exchange of a few letters - none of which are quoted from Jackie AT ALL - forms the premise of this "great" relationship between her and Harold Macmillan. Quite a stretch. But the real problem with this book is that there is total speculation about what Jackie is thinking and feeling. CHeckng the footnotes indicates nothing at all about where the author is getting all this. It's all interesting but its more like a pyschological fiction than a genuine piece of "missing history." All that said - the speculation is interesting and well-thought out by the author - its just that this is about the author's feelings and thoughts, not Jackie's.
Rating:
Summary: Well done!
Review: Having read a lot of books on Jackie Kennedy Onassis I wondered, what the "missing years" could actually mean. But Barbara Lemaing did a lot of careful research and gives us not only an interesting insight in Jackie's years in the White House and her troubled marriage with JFK but also shows us her motives to stay with both.
What I really missed is the inclusion of the letters between Jackie and Harold MacMillan, because they explain a lot and the author is only hinting at them but doesn't give us the full information.....
Rating:
Summary: What really went on behind the scenes
Review: Having recently read several other of the newer Kennedy books, I was not shocked this time to find out about "Dr. Feelgood" who routinely attended both Jack and Jackie in times of stress. During those more innocent times of the 60's, I don't really think that they totally understood the ramifications of being shot up with drugs so regularly. That side of their personality aside, I found this book quite fascinating as to how they could have such a messed up marriage and still carry off a stunning political reign. They were a team, bizarre as Jack Kennedy's sexual behavior was, these two were a highly energized dynamic duo, each feeding off the success of the other. Jack loved nothing more than to show off his brilliant wife and Jackie thrived in the spotlight whenever she had demonstrated one of her amazing coups of winning the hearts of many recalcitrant world leaders. They were magical, both of them. However, away from the glitter of White House social life, Jack continued his depraved sexual life, leaving a dismayed Jackie to turn the other way, always wondering what she lacked. She did not like the White House and spent more weeks away from it than we knew before. It was she that loved the Virginia hunt life and the house they built there together. For her it was an escape from having to come face to face with a long line of young girls brought in to perform sexual favors with the President. But in the end, behind it all, after the death of Patrick and in the months leading up to the assasination, there was a change. A deep and loving devotion grew between the two of them. An abiding respect developed and Jack Kennedy for the first time realized what he has been doing to his wife. Had he lived, I think that he would have changed. He was already on the brink. Jackie, though had to live with the uncertainly. Never knowing what would have been ahead for them. This book gives some great behind the scenes information about what life was like during the missle crisis, just what happened in the ER in Dallas, and describes in detail the terrible sadness that the president felt when Patrick died. We are shown two diverse personalities who in their own odd way, teamed up and lit up the world for three short years. We see two devoted parents as well. In short, the end of the book says it best. That after the assasination, Jackie's resolve was to show that world how she would bring out the best in her children. To make them everything that their father would have wanted. This became her mission. While not mentioned in this book, one of her famous quotes is "If you bungle bringing up your children, nothing else that you do much matters." A mantra that many people today would well follow.
Rating:
Summary: What really went on behind the scenes
Review: Having recently read several other of the newer Kennedy books, I was not shocked this time to find out about "Dr. Feelgood" who routinely attended both Jack and Jackie in times of stress. During those more innocent times of the 60's, I don't really think that they totally understood the ramifications of being shot up with drugs so regularly. That side of their personality aside, I found this book quite fascinating as to how they could have such a messed up marriage and still carry off a stunning political reign. They were a team, bizarre as Jack Kennedy's sexual behavior was, these two were a highly energized dynamic duo, each feeding off the success of the other. Jack loved nothing more than to show off his brilliant wife and Jackie thrived in the spotlight whenever she had demonstrated one of her amazing coups of winning the hearts of many recalcitrant world leaders. They were magical, both of them. However, away from the glitter of White House social life, Jack continued his depraved sexual life, leaving a dismayed Jackie to turn the other way, always wondering what she lacked. She did not like the White House and spent more weeks away from it than we knew before. It was she that loved the Virginia hunt life and the house they built there together. For her it was an escape from having to come face to face with a long line of young girls brought in to perform sexual favors with the President. But in the end, behind it all, after the death of Patrick and in the months leading up to the assasination, there was a change. A deep and loving devotion grew between the two of them. An abiding respect developed and Jack Kennedy for the first time realized what he has been doing to his wife. Had he lived, I think that he would have changed. He was already on the brink. Jackie, though had to live with the uncertainly. Never knowing what would have been ahead for them. This book gives some great behind the scenes information about what life was like during the missle crisis, just what happened in the ER in Dallas, and describes in detail the terrible sadness that the president felt when Patrick died. We are shown two diverse personalities who in their own odd way, teamed up and lit up the world for three short years. We see two devoted parents as well. In short, the end of the book says it best. That after the assasination, Jackie's resolve was to show that world how she would bring out the best in her children. To make them everything that their father would have wanted. This became her mission. While not mentioned in this book, one of her famous quotes is "If you bungle bringing up your children, nothing else that you do much matters." A mantra that many people today would well follow.
Rating: 
Summary: A different angle - and a lot of things become clear.
Review: I agree with almost all of the preceeding comments - the book does seem wildly speculative at times and goes on and on about certain points - I figured this was done to fill out a pretty thin premise- HOWEVER, the overall result is to leave you with an image of Jackie and her first marriage that is completely opposite to the public relations picture the Kennedy's generated.
I believe JFK COULD have spent as much time as is alleged in extra marital affairs - read the accounts of the secret service men - they were walking around shell-shocked. The lasting impression I got of Jackie after reading this book was not of the "Queen" presiding over glittering White House affairs, but of a very lonely woman spending as much time as she could away from the White House and her philandering husband. If you'll notice, not once does she take a girlfriend to the country to ride or just hang out with - there are no girlfriends with the exception of sister Lee. In spite of the beautiful image of Jackie and JFK, she really didn't have the things that most women would say make their lives meaningful - a close trusting relationship with a husband and with friends.
Rating:
Summary: Jack's sexcapades.
Review: I felt the book relied too heavily on what the author imagined what Jackie was thinking, or how she felt. How could the author know? I was less inclined to become absorbed in the books portryal of JFK because the author made JFK out to be a real cad. Recent information has a different approach to JFK. Yes, yes, yes- we know that JFK enjoyed in some extramarital affairs- but I don't believe to the extent to which the author describes.
Some new stuff, but too heavily on the bedroom- which Jackie had always said was off limits.
Rating:
Summary: Mrs. Kennedy a Great Lady
Review: I gave 5 stars to the former Mrs. Kennedy as a person. After
you read this book, you will recognize Jackie's contribution to peace during the Cold War.Jackie was more than a fashion setter, she was a highly educated speech writer and researched
her topics diligently before meeting them at carefully planned dinner parties.History, will long remember her for raising
two beautiful children, and for her skill in making all people feel at ease in her presence.She improved the White House, she wanted all Americans to be proud when they came to visit, and
see the Great History of their nation. Time will reveal how
important this role of First Lady.
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